Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has been impressed by what he’s heard about Kieran Tierney’s attitude in training.
Keown told Stadium Astro what he’s heard about the Scot in training and said it reminds him of the spirit himself, Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit used to have in practice.
He said: “I’m told the players told him [Tierney] to calm down a little bit. I’d have been saying, ‘this is how I train’. I wanted to be at my best, and I think Tierney’s the same.
“He shouldn’t apologise for it. That should be the level of training. On the training pitch it was white hot, it was very competitive.
“The likes of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, these guys were winners, World Cup winners, and they wanted to win everything. And it breathed that in the football club, so it’s good to have that sort of person and I’m pleased if that’s now what he’s trying to re-create.”
Keown was part of the 2003-04 Invincibles season, after which the last truly great Arsenal team began to break apart.
He is well-placed to know what the standards need to be at the football club if they are to get back to the top.
That is clearly what Mikel Arteta is demanding. Even if the quality of the players isn’t as good as Liverpool and Manchester City, the level of application can be.
Tierney gets that already and in a team with few leaders, he is already a potential future club captain if he carries on going this way.
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